New SKUs and Retail Placement
GODIVA is deploying a multi-channel centennial strategy this holiday season, anchored by new mass-retail SKUs, a fine-dining partnership, and a collectible artist collaboration — a rare convergence of impulse gifting and experiential marketing for the pladis-owned premium chocolate brand. The move signals how heritage confectionery labels are compressing the distance between the grocery aisle and experiential foodservice to defend shelf relevance during the year's highest-velocity gifting window.
The headline product launch is a Dark Chocolate with Raspberry Ganache Masterpiece, now carried at Target and Walmart at a $7.49 SRP alongside a new Assorted Holiday Masterpiece Bag at the same price point. Those mass-retail placements position GODIVA squarely in the impulse-gifting tier where velocity and display placement drive most seasonal volume. The 50-piece Assorted Masterpiece Holiday Tin ($55.00) and novelty Santa boxes and star ornaments ($18.00 each) round out the direct-to-consumer assortment on GODIVA.com, widening the average transaction ceiling well beyond the entry-level bag. Refreshed Gold Collection and Signature Truffles gift boxes in 8-piece ($22.00) and 15-piece ($40.00) configurations land at Macy's and GODIVA.com.
Foodservice Activation at Herald Square
On the foodservice side, GODIVA's executive chef chocolatier Thierry Muret partnered with chef Jakob Sleight of Stella 34 Trattoria inside Macy's Herald Square to develop a GODIVA Masterpiece Ganache Torte served exclusively at the restaurant from November 1 through December 31. The collaboration ties directly to Macy's holiday programming — including Breakfast with Santa events and a Thanksgiving Day Parade viewing party — giving GODIVA a dine-in vehicle that extends brand exposure beyond point-of-sale. For foodservice operators, the arrangement illustrates a growing tactic among premium ingredient brands: embedding a branded dessert into an existing restaurant's seasonal LTO calendar rather than building standalone experiential activations.
Limited-Edition Artist Collaboration
GODIVA is also releasing the Centennial Collection Art Edition in partnership with contemporary artist Ekrem Yalçındağ, available exclusively on GODIVA.com with only 1,000 boxes allocated to the U.S. market. The collection includes tablet bars in new flavors — Gold Chocolate with Salted Caramel Pieces and Milk Chocolate with Pistachio among them — molded in bespoke forms inspired by Yalçındağ's work, as well as dark and white chocolate Carrés packaging that reinterprets the artist's 2014 oil-on-canvas piece "Impressions." The severe scarcity cap positions the collaboration as a collectible rather than a volume driver, reinforcing brand equity without cannibalizing core SKUs.
The centennial activation reflects broader category dynamics in premium confectionery, where brands must simultaneously defend mass-retail facings and cultivate aspirational positioning. Ahad Afridi, Chief Marketing Officer, Americas at pladis, framed the season as a celebration of "a century of chocolate" and the brand's role in "making life's sweetest moments unforgettable." For operators and foodservice buyers evaluating gifting and catering programs, GODIVA's holiday assortment offers multiple entry points from $7.49 impulse bags to $55.00 premium tins — a tiered structure that maps neatly onto corporate gifting and hospitality applications.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
